Movie Review: Novocaine


It turns out that the medical condition that the main character Nate, played by Jack Quaid called congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), is a real and very rare condition. Producing a movie about something like this is at the very least an extremely unique idea for an action movie. The downside of this is that Nate is stabbed, beaten, burned and almost killed nonstop throughout this movie.

Jack Quaid is the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan and has been acting in mostly small movie roles for around 13 years. Recently, Quaid has broken through with two recent lead actor roles, the last film “Companion” released in February 2025. The career path for someone like Jack Quaid, who has all of the contacts and opportunities within what can be high-paying field is always easier, for the most part avoiding the many years of waiting tables and hoping for that first miracle break that so few in Hollywood ever find in their lifetime.

As far as this story, it’s about a 30-year-old banker, Nate who falls in love with a co-worker, Sherry played by Amber Midthunder, and later tries to save her after she is kidnapped when three armed men rob the bank. While the story is simple, the many scenes of violence, and elaborate fight scenes Nate goes through to rescue Sherry are greatly enhanced because Nate can feel no pain. I thought the added problem Nate has with not being able to chew food (for fear of biting off his tongue) was too farfetched within this otherwise crazy action movie.

There is a surprise twist ending in this film that caught me by surprise and was very well done.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this film are, this time around an accurate 82% and I recommend this movie for the good acting and original idea.

Movie Review: Companion


The new movie “Companion” is unusual because it is good at surprising the audience within the entire first third of the film. The surprise is a spoiler alert, any reader of this blog might want to stop reading now.

The two main characters of this movie are Josh, played by Jack Quaid (the son of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid), and Iris, played by Sophie Thatcher. It turns out that the relationship between these two people is not real because Iris is a Robot with impressive AI abilities and intelligence, making her as real as any human woman. There is a company that manufactures robots for lonely people, including a portable control panel that controls every aspect of the Robot’s behavior.

Iris and Josh are invited to the mansion of a wealthy friend, who might be a Russian criminal. Then this story mutates into a murder, chase scenes, gory and violent scenes all about the worst parts of humanity that all of us possess. All of the technology and action scenes are done very well, making what would have been a run-of-the-mill horror action movie into one that is memorable.

The Rotten Tomatoes average rating is a too high 95%, with my rating 80% and a solid recommendation.